Ireland Join Family Long-stay Visa: Apply from Canada

For an Irish citizen/resident to be eligible to sponsor you to leave Canada for Ireland through the Join Family Visa, they must be able to prove they can provide for you financially.

The requirements vary depending on their nationality. 

If the sponsor is an Irish citizen

If you intend to join an Irish citizen family member, your sponsor must have earned an income of over €40,000 (54,666.98 Canadian Dollars) in the three years before the application.

Your sponsor cannot have been totally or even somewhat dependent on any Irish state benefits in the two years before the application.

If the sponsor is a non-EU/EEA national

If you intend to join a non-EU/EEA resident family member, the financial requirements are varied.

Should your family member’s permit or visa permit them to bring you with them immediately, then they don’t have to show any specified sum upfront.

However, they must prove they will continue to meet the requirements of their permission to stay once they apply for a renewal.

If your family member has another type of Ireland work permit, they have to prove that, in the two years before application (or 1 year, if you are applying to join them 1 year after they moved to Ireland), they’ve earned the gross income which is set by the Irish Department of Social Protection.

These range between a weekly income of €521 (711.90 Canadian Dollars) and- 1,308 (1,787.25 Canadian Dollars) depending on the number of children you have.

If you have no children, the minimum annual income requirements for an Ireland spouse visa are €30,000 (40,993.95 Canadian Dollars)

You must be able to provide evidence confirming the relationship with your family members in Ireland is legit and genuine. The evidence depends on the type of your relationship with them.

If you are applying for the Join Family Visa as a spouse, de facto partner, or civil partner, you can submit a marriage or civil partnership certificate and all correspondence to prove you have been together for some time.

If you are applying for a child of the sponsor in Ireland, you can provide the child’s birth certificate or adoption paperwork.

Finally, if you are a de facto partner, you can include a registration certificate of the partnership, a joint tenancy for a home, or evidence of having previously visited your partner in Ireland.

If your sponsor is an Irish citizen, you will most likely receive your decision within 6 months. If your sponsor is a non-EEA citizen legally living in Ireland, the processing time can take up to 12 months.

All visa applications are reviewed in chronological order and on a case-by-case basis. This means if your situation is particularly complex, or there are many applicants, your waiting time will likely increase.

To save any trouble, it is best to finalize and submit your paperwork around 6 months before you intend to move to Ireland.

At Total Law, we empathize with the importance of being with your family. It is hard to be apart from family, and we are keen to support families with their join family long-stay visas.

We are an accomplished group of immigration lawyers who can support you in your application and immigration processes and answer all of your questions.

Whether you need assistance with the application form and process for your Irish visa, need assistance with attending a Garda national immigration bureau office to apply for a residence permit, or just need to talk one-on-one with an immigration professional for advice, we can help.

With the help of our team, your chances of success are increased. There is no worse feeling than getting a delay or rejection of your visa, which means a longer time until you can see your family members in Ireland. Instead, contact us today for our help. We are available seven days a week and can be reached either by phone call (+1 844 290 6312) or via our online chat.